Baltic Defense, Pseudo-Slav

The Pseudo-Slav is the Baltic Defense line reached by 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Bf5 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6. This move order, with the knight on f3 before c2-c4, places it under ECO code D02. Black combines the early bishop development of the Baltic with the c6-e6-d5 pawn triangle of the Slav and Semi-Slav. With the bishop already on f5, Black gets the Slav structure without having to solve the c8-bishop problem later. The extra pawn support on d5 and the half-open diagonal for ...Qb6 make White's usual pressure against d5 and b7 less effective. The position is a Slav-type middlegame in which Black has not yet committed the g8-knight.

The engine prefers 6. Qb3-style pressure in principle, listing Qb3, Bf4 and g3 as White's best moves and giving White a slight edge. In practice the most frequent choice is 5. Bf4, mirroring Black's bishop, followed by 5. Bg5 and the quieter 5. e3. Online results are close to even, with White only marginally ahead, and draws are rare.